Saturday, January 23, 2010

Blue Letter Bible

The Blue Letter Bible is an online resource that offers a variety of features. Users may search Scripture in English, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, or Spanish. Once a verse has been found, the Blue Letter Bible displays the verse as well as those after it with links to dictionaries, commentaries, concordances, images, maps, and other versions. The site itself is pretty self-explanatory, and first-time users would most likely be able to navigate it without much difficulty. A “Help/FAQ” link may be accessed on the left navigation bar for assistance if needed.
Developed over the past fourteen years, the Blue Letter Bible—run mostly by non-denominational, self-described 'conservative' Christians with backgrounds in ministry and/or education—offers tools for a range of people. For the more tech-savvy, the site provides computer code to link to a user’s site. It also expects to be used as a source and provides ready-made citations for its pages throughout most of the site.
There seemed to be only two things that warrant attention when navigating this site. First, the Greek letter ρ is a little askew, making some words difficult to read at first glance. Second, users must pay attention to which version of the Bible they are searching and remember to check it or change it as the site may revert back to default settings from time to time. Overall, however, the Blue Letter Bible seems to be a useful resource.
(SarahT)